October 1941. In the darkest days of the Second World War, Alan Turing and a group of code breakers at Bletchley Park write a letter to Winston Churchill – in desperation. They have achieved the supposedly impossible feat of cracking the German Enigma encryptions. But this breakthrough is in danger of being squandered.
70 years later, I came across Turing’s letter – and Churchill’s handwritten response – in the archives.
This is the story of Enigma, the codebreakers, and the letter that helped ensure the success of the most important top-secret breakthrough of World War II.
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Resources:
The Bletchley Park codebreakers’ letter, along with the notes from Winston Churchill and Hastings Ismay, are held in file HW 1/155 at the National Archives, UK. It is digitized in Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War available from Coherent Digital.
Music:
Waltz of Treachery by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4606-waltz-of-treachery
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Depth Of Focus by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com
Sonatina in C Minor by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4393-sonatina-in-c-minor
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